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Kurata Hakuyo. 飛行自動車雙六 [Hiko Jidosha Sugoroku]. Tokyo, Bukyo Sekai Sha 1913 (Taisho 2). Colour broadside 55x78cm. Used, with some small holes in folds and a repaired tear; quite acceptable. Au$400
This rare and captivating game was the new year gift from the magazine Bukyo Sekai. We follow two kids as they wreak havoc round the world in their flying car. Like all well prepared kids they packed their revolvers, handy when a lion attacks from one side and tigers from the other; likewise unfriendly black folk and what I take to be a roc.
Sugoroku. Kawabata Ryushi & Hoshino Suiri. 買い物双六 [Kaimono Sugoroku]. Tokyo, 1914 (Taisho 3). Colour printed broadside 79x55cm. A couple of pin holes; a nice copy. Au$750
The New Year gift from the magazine Shojo no Tomo - the Girl's Friend. Shopping and fun, fun and shopping, indivisible here as it should be. There is a zen-like approach to this. The goal is the top balcony where the winner can gaze with calm detachment back and down on the world of the great department store. Only by immersing yourself in the experience can you come to comprehend. As the master who gave me the only coherent account of zen I ever heard said, as he bit the top off the eleventieth bottle of beer, "When you're drinking you're only drinking."
Kawabata's career took a curious turn during a 1913 stay in America to study western painting. Apparently he was so impressed with the Japanese art he saw in Boston he switched to being a Nihonga painter. Still, he remained being an illustrator for magazines for quite some time. As did most of the early to mid 20th century artists now revered
Trams (streetcars). お伽絵本 : 電車づくし [Otogi Ehon : Densha-Dzukushi]. Tokyo, Seibido? 1914 (Taisho 3). 12x17cm publisher's woodblock colour illustrated wrapper; four double folded leaves with eight colour woodblock prints. An outstanding copy. Au$200
The quality of printing in this celebration of the tram goes down hill once we're past the front cover but the cover is worth it, what with the silver printing and sprinkles. And there is a too rarely seen view of a boy being knocked off his bike.
This is maybe not properly a modern akahon (red book), the ultra cheap and lurid kids books that came out of Osaka but it is a blood relation.
Tokyo. 東京名所万世橋広瀬中佐銅像 [Tokyo Meisho Manseibashi Hirose Chuza Dozo?]. Tokyo 1914 (Taisho 3). Colour lithograph 27x40cm. A blotch in the top margin, a bit rumpled and used; pretty good. Au$100
The statue of Hirose Takeo - Russo-Japanese War hero - was erected in 1910 and in 1914 the monumental pile of Manseibashi station - opened in 1912 - should be right behind him. It would spoil the composition of this view so it has understandably been omitted.
Once the eyes stop watering these acid trip views of late Meiji and Taisho Japan start to make sense. They may have started as a cynical grab at attention for cheap, often nasty, prints but after a while they become a celebration of being in a place and time so exciting that no portrait can be too brightly, too impossibly, coloured.
Photographs may be in some way a more reliable record but no photographer could gather the cast of characters - and the characters include trams and motor cars and the latest fashions - and arrange them to so capture the thrill of being out and about in Tokyo on a Taisho afternoon.
Fukutani Masakichi. 新撰裁縫の栞 [Shinsen Saiho no Shiori]. Osaka, Kashiwabara 1915 (Taisho 4). Three volumes 15x22cm, publisher's colour woodblock chirimen (crepe) wrappers on one and three, plain wrapper with title label on two; publisher's pattern board case with title label (surface nibbled, missing one clasp); double page colour woodcut frontispiece, b/w illustrations and two folding patterns in the first volume, b/w illustrations throughout the third volume, and 24 folding patterns in the middle volume - a mix of cutting and decoration patterns. Some misfolding of patterns, signs of use but careful use. Au$200
A smart set of home kimono making books and obviously very successful: first published in 1903, this is called the 25th edition and I think there were at least a couple more. So of course these remain virtually unknown, ignored and complete sets are not so easy to find. The NDL entry is the only one I can find in any library around the world.
Kawabata Ryushi. 少年軍艦双六 [Shonen Gunkan Sugoroku]. Tokyo,Nihon Shonen 1917 (Taisho 6) 54x78cm colour broadside. Top edge nibbled, minor signs of use. Au$425
A boy's celebration of the navy; this game was the new year gift from the magazine Nihon Shonen.
Kawabata's career took a curious turn during a 1913 stay in America to study western painting. Apparently he was so impressed with the Japanese art he saw in Boston he switched to being a Nihonga painter. Still, he remained being an illustrator for magazines for quite some time. As did most of the early to mid 20th century artists now revered.
戸締栓金具 文化クロロ [Tojimari Sen Kanagu : Bunka Kuroro]. [192-?]. Colour lithograph poster 76x35cm. Short tears around the edges; pretty good. Au$200
This shop poster is both an advertisement and a warning: these handsome door or window locks will not keep out mournful children.
Takeda Hisa. 最新魔術双六 [Saishin Majutsu Sugoroku]. Tokyo, Shonen Sekai 1922 (Taisho 11). 55x80cm colour broadside. Some small holes in folds; with the playing pieces intact in the margin plus the new year issue of Shonen Sekai that this game came with (spine separating but all there and decent enough). Au$300
This game of the latest in magic was the new year gift for 1922 readers.
Hosokibara Seiki, Ikebe Hitoshi, Yamada Minoru & Shishido Sako. 家庭円満面白双六 [Katei Enman Omoshiro Sugoroku]. Tokyo, Kobunsha 1924 (Taisho 13). Colour broadsheet 54x79cm. A few pinholes in folds, rather good. sold
A co-operative romp by four well known manga artists, or cartoonists if you like. This was the new year gift from the magazine Omoshiro Kurabu - the Interesting Club.
Pesticide manga. フマキラーマンガ [Fumakilla Manga]. Fumakilla [192-?]. 10x7cm folding out to 8 panels: ie 16pp printed in red and blue. Au$100
Tiny maybe but when did you last have so much fun squirting bug killer over your family, pets, livestock and plants? Fumakilla was patented in 1924 and Fumakilla, the company, still exists but I suppose the delivery method is obsolete.
Manga Sugoroku. まんがすごろく [Manga Sugoroku]. Asahi Graph 1925 (Taisho 14). Colour broadsheet 54x79cm. Minor signs of use, pretty good. On the back is a monochrome game that features Daikokuten and a map of Japan; it doesn't look very interesting. With the playing pieces in the margin. sold
The new year gift from the magazine Asahi Graph celebrates the introduction and embrace of the American comic strip in Japan along with a couple of local heroes. Mutt, Jeff, Jinks, Maggie et al share the page with that pom-pom kid and his squirrel friend - or vice versa - I forget their names. But I do notice that everyone sticks to their own boxes; Jinks, Mutt and the squirrel play the same stage but not together. Such behavior came later.
It was Okamoto Ippei that convinced Asahi Graph and associated papers to publish Bringing Up Father and Mutt and Jeff. This is printed on good heavy paper and Asahi must have produced a squillion of them, so you'd expect it to be fairly easy to find. Not so.
Maruo Shiyo. 名探偵切名競ベ双六 [Mei Tantei Setsu-Mei Kurabe Sugoroku]. Tokyo, Omoshiro Kurabu 1926 (Taisho 15). Colour broadsheet 55x79; some marks, splits in folds and small holes. Used but not bad. On the back is a monochrome baseball game that looks dull. Au$300
Maybe not the best copy of this captivating detective sugoroku but since I can't trace another copy I won't take the chance on waiting for a better one. This was the new year gift from the magazine Omoshiro Kurabe - the Interesting Club.
Yanase Masamu & Fujimori Seikichi. 狼へ！ (わが労働) [Okami e! (Waga Rodo)]. Tokyo, Shunjusha 1926 (Taisho 15). 20x14cm, excellent in publisher's illustrated boards and slipcase by Yanase. Spine a bit browned, minor wear to the top of the slipcase; rather good. Inscribed and signed by Fujimori in September 1926 to the novelist Wada Den (Wada Tsuto). Au$800
First edition of Fujimori's proletarian novel - the title translates as 'To the Wolf! (my labour)' - but, alas, probably more wanted for Yanase's book design these days. As I can't read the book, there's no contest for me. Both were trouble makers and both ended up in trouble - jailed every now and again, in Yanase's case tortured as well.
Yanase, both prodigy and prodigious, was one of the founders of MAVO - now Japan's best known avant-garde group of the early twenties - after membership of futurist and constructivist associations and before moving onto self proclaimed proletarian movements. He abandoned painting in the late twenties - the fine arts were anti-proletarian - and worked only as a graphic artist until the war, which he did not survive.
Wada Den was prominent in the school of farmer or peasant literaure. They both wrote about the working class but Wada was, I've read, no friend to left wing troublemakers.
Fire sugoroku. 火防宣伝壽語録 [Hifuse Senden Kotobuki Goroku]. Nagano Prefecture, Hofukujimachi Shobo-gumi 1926 (Taisho 15). Colour broadside 80x55cm. A rather good copy with its original illustrated outer wrapper. Au$750
A thrilling, vivid and rare game, bristling with peril and disaster, issued by the Hofukujimachi fire fighting department. I have seen a ragged copy of this for sale once but I haven't found a record of another copy anywhere.
Insurance sugoroku. 生命保険双六 [Seimei Hoken Sugoroku]. Tokyo, Nikka Life Insurance 1926 (Taisho 15). Colour broadside 54x79cm. Minor signs of use and a little browning, quite good. Au$200
The thrills of life insurance captured in this rollicking game. This should not be confused with the game with the same title issued by the Aikoku Life Insurance company the following year. No doubt that has its charms, but ...
Shogakusei Zenshu. Maekawa Senpan. 飛行機の話 - 潜水艦の話 [Hikoku no Hanashi - Sensuikan no Hanashi]. Tokyo, Kobunsha 1928 [Showa 3]. Octavo, publisher's cloth backed illustrated card wrapper by Maekawa Senpan; illustrated title, one colour plate, photo and b/w illustrations. Minor signs of use, quite good. Au$135
The Shogakusei Zenshu, or Complete Works for Elementary Schools, runs to some 88 volumes of educational texts and literature - much of this in translation; few of them seem elementary. This one covers the aeroplane and the submarine.
Maekawa started as a cartoonist and became a founding member of the Sosaku Hanga movement. Like many of his generation he continued to make his living as a commercial illustrator. Here he outshines many of his most celebrated prints.
Shogakusei Zenshu. Okano Sakae [cover design]. 算術の話 [Sanjutsu no Hanashi]. Tokyo, Kobunsha 1928 [Showa 3]. Octavo, cloth backed publisher's illustrated card wrapper; illustrated title in red, one colour plate and numerous b/w illustrations and diagrams through the text. Minor signs of use and usual browning; quite good. Shogakusei Zenshu no.73. Au$150
The Shogakusei Zenshu, or Complete Works for Elementary Schools, runs to some 88 volumes of educational texts and literature - much of this in translation; few of them seem elementary. This one is arithmetic. I believe that if my maths texts looked like this my education would have been much more rewarding.
This masterpiece of a cover is by Okano Sakae, one of the generation of artists who came through the western painting department of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts at the beginning of the century, later a pupil of Kuroda Seiki, and collaborator with fellow Hakubakai students on the five volume Nihon Meisho Shasei Kiko.
Exhibition - Tokyo 東京博覧会第一会場第二会場夜の美観 [Tokyo Hakurankai Dai Ichi Kaijo Dai Ni Kaijo Bayoru No Bikan]. Tokyo, Urashimado? 1928 (Showa 3). Colour lithograph 37x78cm. Creased and crumpled but still worthwhile. Au$150
This is the Dairei Memorial Expo of 1928 - held to celebrate the coronation of Hirohito - by night. This is how the world looked when I was a child. Trying to recover this vision with varied hallucinogens and psychotropics only works for so long so it's good to have a permanent souvenir.
Kon Wajiro & Yoshida Kenkichi. モデルノロヂオ - 考現学 [Moderunorojio - Kogengaku]. Tokyo, Shun'yudo 1930 (Showa 5). Large octavo publisher's decorated cloth blocked in white, red and black; 361pp, illustrations throughout, a few photo or colour plates. Some marks on the cover; quite a good copy of a book that invites continual thumbing. sold
First printing. This is an extraordinary book; the gospel of Modernology and hard to find in decent condition. Kon and Yoshida have compiled an encyclopaedia, surely unsurpassed, of the apparently ordinary, of the people of Tokyo, fit to provoke unseemly enthusiasm in theoreticians and urban planners ever since. I gather that Kon's thesis - born out of watching the people of Tokyo begin to rebuild after the 1923 earthquake and fire - is that those who do the planning, designing and official building know nothing of what people actually do, what they own and how they use those things - how they live and who they are.
